NEET PG Counselling 2021 plea to be heard today in SC; Here are 10 key points to know

NEET PG Counselling 2021: The Supreme Court is scheduled to resume hearing a plea related to the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) quota in connection with the NEET-PG counselling on January 6, 2022. To be noted that the matter was adjourned in the Court on January 5, 2022. Here are 10 things related to NEET PG Counselling 2021 that one must know.

NEET-PG Counselling 2021: 10 points to know

1. Centre seeks urgent hearing of EWS quota case: The Centre requested the Supreme Court on January 3, to schedule a hearing in a matter related to the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) quota in connection with the NEET-PG admissions on January 4, citing 'some urgency'.
2. SC to hear the matter: EWS quota matter will be heard by a special bench of justices- Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice AS Bopanna. They will be hearing the plea as centre requested for an urgent hearing in the matter to save time of candidates.
3. Highlights of Jan 5th hearing: On Wednesday, January 5, Supreme Court heard arguments made by Senior Advocates Arvind Datar and Shyam Divan. Senior Advocate Shyam Divan appeared for the petitioners. He made his point that the new system of reservation should come into force from next year. He was referring to the notification which was released on July 29, which talks about implementing EWS and OBC quota. He said, "It is like 'changing the rules of the game midway' as the reservation policy was introduced after the exams were notified."
4. NEET PG Counselling Schedule: NEET PG counselling for 50 percent AIQ seats was earlier scheduled to begin on October 25, 2021. However, MCC postponed the same following the Supreme Court’s direction. Centre assured SC that counselling will be put on hold until a decision is taken by the Court.
5. MCC announces AIQ NEET counselling scheme: The MCC has also introduced some changes to the AIQ NEET counselling scheme, the process will remain the same as previous years for central institutions. MCC said, “The proposed modified scheme of Online 4 rounds of counselling will be in tune with the prevailing norms of counselling (including the fees and security deposit) being followed for Central Institutes/Universities.”
6. NEET PG Exam Timeline: At first NEET PG Exam 2021 was scheduled for May 2021. It was then pushed to September due to the second wave of COVID-19 in India. The academic calendar was already delayed by 4 months and due to contention in the EWS quota, the counseling is deferred till the matter is solved. Union government on October 25 assured Supreme Court that the NEET PG counselling 2021 will not start until the Supreme Court comes to a conclusion on OBC, EWS quota NEET. 
7. Doctors protested against the delay: Large-scale protests have been witnessed by New Delhi as resident doctors from various hospitals protested against the delay. They mentioned the issues being faced by them after centre decided to revisit the criteria for the determination of the EWS quota. Thousands of resident doctors in Maharashtra also went on strike on Dec 31, and demanded recruitment of non-academic junior resident doctors equal to the number of residents in colleges.
8. Protests were called off: The doctors called off their protest on Jan 4 after a 'fruitful' meeting with the state medical education and research director.
9. NEET counselling 2021 process: NEET PG counseling will be conducted in four rounds. These are AIQ round 1, AIQ round 2, AIQ mop-up round and AIQ stray vacancy round.
10. About NEET PG: This exam is a gateway to provide admissions to various MD (Doctor of Medicine)/MS (Master in Surgery) and PG Diploma courses across India. It is conducted in online mode at various centers across the country. Candidates who seek admission to attain expertise in various aspects of medical science take this exam.